All of Apple’s products are ENERGY STAR (the US Environmental Protection Agency’s guideline for energy efficiency) qualified, something no other tech company can claim

Apple encourages recycling – its Reuse and Recycling Program allows customers to get an Apple gift card for the value of their old device. If it doesn’t qualify for Reuse, Apple will recycle is responsibly for free

Their Commute Alternatives program encourages its employees to use transit options that reduce traffic, smog and CO2 emissions, saving 30,000,000 kg of CO2 in 2011

In 2010 Apple discovered that three supplier companies were improperly disposing of hazardous waste – in response, it required that the companies immediately stop shipping waste and hire certified vendors for future waste disposal

By withdrawing from EPEAT, Apple lost its ability to work with the organization to define and promote environmentally-conscious standards

Some of Apple’s latest products are more difficult to disassemble, making it harder to recycle properly. Its newest Retina display Macbook Pro did not meet EPEAT’s criteria for disassembly.

Apple was named the “Least Green” tech company by Greenpeace in 2011- Greenpeace said Apple relies heavily on highly polluting coal power at the sites where its servers are, with a dependence around 54.5%

Greenpeace also reported that Apple’s investment in a new North Carolina facility triples its electricity consumptions, equivalent to the electricity demand of 80,000 average US homes. In the same report, it estimated that the facility would draw about 100 megawatts of electricity at full capacity.

*Note: Apple recently contested these claims, saying 60% of the power will be eventually delivered on-site from a solar farm and fuel-cell installation, which will each be the largest in the country, making this site the greenest data center ever built. It also stated that the facility draws about 20 megawatts of electricity at full capacity, not 100.